"Then the disciples went away again unto their own home". After finding the tomb empty, Peter and John went home. It would be good if more of us went home and thought about what had happened instead of rushing frantically here and there - if we thought about our life and where it is going, ... Read more

"full assurance". God wants everyone who trusts in the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, to be assured of their salvation. It is finished and complete. If you are hoping that the good things you do will assure you of a place in heaven you will never have full assurance. No assurance means that ... Read more

""He has brought us to this place". After rehearsing God's dealing with His People, Moses is here showing them the manner in which they should come before the Lord with the offering of their firstfruits. It was important that they should recognise that the Lord had brought them to the place where they now were. ... Read more

"Search me, O God, and know my heart". We are encouraged to submit ourselves to health checks of one form or another. When something irregular is found, specialist advice is sought to correct what is wrong. Yet how many, even among those who acknowledge the Person of God, pray the Psalmist's prayer in earnest? Instead, ... Read more

"And when they saw him, they worshipped him". You can only truly worship the Lord when you see Him. It will be the eye of faith, and there will be those who doubt, but your heart will pour out worship and thanks to the Lord when you recognise His great love for you. This is ... Read more

"they … expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly". What a delightful couple Aquila and Priscilla must have been! Apollos was a talented orator and obviously zealous for God. He had a persuasive and winning way that quickly gained him a following. But Aquila and Priscilla, older and more grounded in the faith ... Read more

"the power of his resurrection". Jesus spoke about the resurrection many times. Our teaching must not diminish its importance. Ten times it is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and many times in the teaching of the Epistles. All who pass through this life are heading towards the resurrection. For centuries now those called ... Read more

"there is no other God that can deliver after this sort". These are the words of Nebuchadnezzar when the three Hebrew boys came forth from his furnace without a scorch mark on them. This kind of deliverance took everyone by surprise, yet there is no deliverance too difficult for the Lord. How you will be ... Read more

"Don't bother me". The man in Jesus' parable appreciated his bed more than the need of his neighbour and did not want to get up and give him bread. I think we are all guilty of this at times. The good thing is that he didn't stay that way. For one thing his friend kept ... Read more

"She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy". God has given womanhood a tenderness that can be found nowhere else. Though on occasions it falls to the man to offer succour and comfort, it is not his natural gift. While in this verse the writer is referring specially to ... Read more

"all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you". So many things in life seem to be coming our way yet turn off at the last minute or disappear altogether. Not so with the blessing of the Lord upon those who love Him. Take time to read the list of blessings promised in this ... Read more

"because he was of the same trade he stayed with them, and they worked". When staying with tent-makers Paul turned his hand with them to the craft he had learned. But we are left to imagine the gist of what was said as they worked together making tents. In fact, Paul was occupying one of ... Read more

" (He) would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple". Jesus chose the occasion of His visiting the temple to protest against the desecration of the court by tradesmen. It was a day those who witnessed it would not forget. Things are going on today that the Christian cannot condone. ... Read more

p>"Why are we sitting here until we die? ". I think the emphasis on these words spoken by four lepers was that they were sitting doing nothing. They were waiting for something to happen, for others to do something, when it turned out they were to resolve the matter. Samaria was besieged and they were ... Read more

"so great salvation". It is great because without it man had no hope whatever of extricating himself from the quagmire of sin. Great because it is all embracing. Salvation in Christ may be experienced by anyone who will believe and accept it; no means test or qualifying period. Furthermore, it is great because there is ... Read more

"he walked on the water, to go to Jesus". Very spectacular! But his walking on the water was short-lived and soon ended in beginning to sink. We may not get the chance to show our trust in Jesus as Peter did when the Lord said to him "Come." Yet we all are called to be ... Read more

"Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life". Few, if any, of us escape trouble: we don't have to look far to see it. If it does not affect us directly it is experienced by those dear to us. Life keeps going and we need to keep walking too. We are ... Read more

"your God will be my God". It does seem as though Naomi was a person about whom, if a Christian, you would say, 'If that's a Christian, I want to be one'! Ruth had seen Naomi as mother in the home and as widow at the graveside. She had no doubt learned to lean and ... Read more

"he said, 'Go again seven times' ". The confrontation Elijah had with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel is well known. When these prophets had been slain, Elijah received the assurance that the nation-wide drought was to end. He told his servant lad to go and look out for a cloud in the sky, ... Read more

"the sword of the Spirit". Not a ceremonial sword to be worn when on parade. The sword of the Spirit is a vital piece of the Christian's armour. It is the God-breathed Word of God which Jesus used to cut down the Devil's evil insinuations when tempted in the wilderness. It is the means whereby ... Read more

"Come to me". The wonder of the Gospel is not merely that we may come to the Lord, but that He invites us to do so. And the more wretched and unworthy a person feels, the more pressing is the invitation. Jesus came not to call righteous people: He came for sinners - the failures, ... Read more

"After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves". Seeking advice is commendable: seeking and taking the wrong advice is folly. Jeroboam was crowned king over Israel. He immediately felt he had a problem - if his subjects went up to Jerusalem to worship they might revert to Rehoboam, king of Judah. So he sought ... Read more

"I go … unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me". It was more important for the Apostle Paul to be led by the Spirit than that he should know what was going to happen to him. There are those who will not step forward until they have been given specific assurances about ... Read more

"His sister stood at a distance". There are times when we need to stand back and let God work. Human efforts to hide Moses had run out. Now it was time for God to act. But standing back doesn't mean out of sight. Miriam was watching to see what would happen to him. When God ... Read more

"neither cold nor hot". Lukewarm! Trying to be hot and cold at the same time, but succeeding only in making an insipid mixture admired by no one. This is the Spirit's complaint about the church in Laodicea and it is the Spirit's complaint about many today. In test cricket there is a second innings when ... Read more

"How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God". The important words to note here are 'thoughts to me' - that is, God's thoughts relating to the Psalmist. The word translated 'thought' is unique in the Old Testament. It conveys the meaning of 'association of ideas or plans', and it is the revealed idea ... Read more

"if the goodman of the house had known". We don't know when the Lord will return and so need to be ready. That He is coming He made quite clear with the words "I will come again". We need to be ready. Followers of Jesus all down the years have lived in expectancy of His ... Read more

"you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! ". The church in Laodicea thought it was all right when in fact it was very spiritually sick. This wrong assessment arose from counting earthly instead of spiritual values. They failed to be spiritually minded and led by the Spirit. Miserable and pitiful is the ... Read more

"wash away your sins". Ananias encouraged Saul of Tarsus to be baptised and declare publicly what had happened to him. You begin by trusting in the secret of your own heart, but what you have done must be evidenced. Not to 'nail your colours to the mast' makes it easier to fall away when temptation, ... Read more

"a fountain opened ... for sin and for uncleanness". This prophecy and promise was given to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This was the chosen people of God that the prophet knew. We now look back to the fulfilment of these words when Jesus died on the cross. His shed ... Read more

"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven". The Holy Spirit did not merely enable Stephen to bravely face the mob that was about to stone him. The indwelling Holy Spirit gave Stephen a vision of heaven. The Holy Spirit will give that same vision to all who look with the eye ... Read more

"a great multitude, which no man could number". The multitude in heaven praising the Lord will be too great to number. 'The Father's house will be filled,' is what Jesus said. I recall preaching on that text to a small congregation in a Greek village many years ago. After the service a lady came to ... Read more

"I have compassion on the multitude". Jesus came not to judge the world but to save it, and as He mingled with men and women compassion for the multitudes was engendered in His heart. Compassion is something the world needs more than sympathy. Sympathy is being sorry for: compassion is the same and doing something ... Read more

"The Lord is my shepherd". Not the testimony of those who do not recognise themselves to be as sheep needing a shepherd. But to those who know themselves to be wandering and to all who find it impossible to return to the fold unaided, it is the blessed description of One Who says, 'I am ... Read more

"a great voice, as of a trumpet". The word 'great' occurs many times in the Book of the Revelation. There is great tribulation, a great sword, a great earthquake, a great star, a great furnace and the great river Euphrates, to mention but a few. In this verse it is the greatness of His voice ... Read more